Absolute Rule: Absolute rule means complete power.
Bastille: The Bastille was a prison in Paris. It was captured during the French Revolution. Important to note that French artist Jean-Pierre Houel's paintings contributed to the myth that the Bastille was a terrifying, cruel, and secretive prison in which the monarchy tortured its many victims. But when the citizen army captured the castle on July 14, 1789, they only found a small garrison and a handful of inmates.
Declaration of the Rights of Man:Manifesto debated in the National Assembly (1789-91) embodying the principles and philosophy of the Revolution. It consisted of 17 articles and stated that all citizens are born equal and are equal in the eyes of the law, with rights to liberty, property, and security, and the right to resist tyranny. The nation is sovereign and laws are the expression of the general will. Every citizen has the right to freedom of opinion, speech, writing, etc. It was published as the preface to the constitution in 1791.
Deficit, Madame: Name given to Marie Antoinette, who had taken an active part in the registering of the edicts on the territorial subsidy and the stamp duty in 1787.
Enlightenment: A period in the late 17th and 18th century that was also known as the "Age of Reason," when critical reason was used to replace prejudices, accepted and unexamined authority, and general oppression by the church and state. Its basic tenet was that through reason people could find knowledge and happiness.
Estate: An estate was a class of people in France before the revolution. There were three estates or groups that made up French society before the revoultion.
Estates General: Ancient assembly of France that was first summoned in 1301. Before the Revolution it had not met since 1614 under Louis XIII. They were convened by Louis XVI and met at Versailles on May 5, 1789. A dispute arose as to whether the three orders should sit separately or as one assembly. The Third Estate insisted on one assembly and on June 17 assumed the title of the "National Assembly," and on November 5 distinctions between the three estates were finally abandoned.
French Revolution:The French Revolution was the war fought by the French people to change France's laws and rulers. It lasted from 1789-1799.
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity": Was a phrase said by people in the French Revolution. The words meant that the people of France wanted freedom and equal rights.
Louis XV: (1710-74). Louis XV succeeded his great-grandfather to the throne at the age of 5, in 1715. For part of his reign he was guided by the able statesman Andre Hercule de Fleury but when Fleury died in 1743 Louis did not appoint a successor and proved to be unable to rule forcefully. The loss of Canada and other colonial possessions and the expense involved in the War of Austrian Succession (1741-48) and the Seven Years' War (1756-63) increased the country's economic difficulties, which led directly to the Revolution in 1789.
Louis XVI: (1754-93). Son of Louis, dauphin of France, and of Marie Joseph of Saxony, brother of Louis XVIII and Charles X. He succeeded his grandfather, Louis XV, to the throne in 1774. He was reasonably well-intentioned but lacked the will to govern progressively and was dominated by his wife, the Austrian Marie Antoinette, whom he married in 1770. On January 21, 1793 he was guillotined. The revolutionaries called him "Monsieur Veto" and "Louis Capet".
Louis XVII: (1785-95). Titular King of France 1793-95. Second son of Louis XVI, he became dauphin on the death of his brother in 1789. His death is rumored to have taken place on June 8, 1795 as a result of neglect and ill-treatment. Over 30 people subsequently claimed to be the dauphin.
Marie Antoinette: (1755-93). Queen of France, Daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa, in 1770 she married Louis, the dauphin, who became king Louis XVI in 1774. Generally disliked by her subjects, she was blamed for the state of French finances because of her opposition to plans for their improvment by Turgot and Necker.
National Assembly: The National Assembly was a group formed from the old Estates General. The National Assembly became the lawmaking body for France during the revolution.
Necker, Jacques:(1732-1804). Statesman and financier. He established the London and Paris bank of Thellusson and Necker. In 1777 he was appointed director-general of finance. His methods and integrity helped to better economic conditions. His constraints were disliked by Marie Antoinette, and his famous Compte rendu published in 1781 caused his dismissal, brought about by those who had suffered from his economic policies. He was recalled to office in September 1788 and recommended the summoning of the Estates General.
Robespierre, Maximilien:(1758-94). Lawyer, leading revolutionist and orator. He was elected to the Estates-General in 1789. He made his mark as a radical and was an early member of the Jacobin Club. In 1792 he became a Paris deputy to the Convention, emerging as leader of the Mountain party. In July 1793, having beaten the Girondists, he became president of the Committee of Public Safety and launched the Reign of Terror. By 1794 he had almost achieved limitless power, but was at last overthrown on July 27, 1794 and guillotined the same day.
Sans-Culottes:(Without Breeches). Radical republicans who, to signfy that they were manual workers, wore trousers rather than the knee-breeches of the prerevolutionary aristocrats. Orignally a term of reproach, but the revolutionaries assumed the name with pride and applied it to themselves as "patriots". In 1792-94 it was applied to a specific group that was pressuring the Convention by moblizing local clubs and assemblies.
Tennis-Court Oath:Dramatic action by the Third Estate and a step towards Revolution that took place on June 20, 1789 when the deputies of the Third Estate found that they were locked out of their usual meeting hall. They adjourned to the royal tennis court on the other side of the palace of Versailles. There the deputies took an oath which claimed authority by the Commons of France. Louis XVI eventually gave way and on June 27 ordered the nobles and clergy to join with the Third Estate in the National Assembly. The oath was taken individually and orally by all but one of the members present.
Versailles: Was originally a hunting lodge built by Louis XIII but enlarged into a palace by Louis XIV. The chief residence of the French monarchy twelve miles southwest of Paris. The royal family's preference for living there made Parisians suspicious of the king's attitude toward the city.
Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet De:(1694-1778). French philosopher and author. He was imprisoned in the Bastille in 1717 for writings wrongly ascribed to him, and it was after his release that he assumed the name Voltaire. He dedicated his life to the ideals of tolerance, justice, and freedom. His writings and ideals helped foster the Revolution.
Back